Review: ‘Cookin’ it up at MetroStage

By
Barbara MackayFebruary 1, 2008

WASHINGTON — "Cookin’ at the Cookery: The
Music and Times of Alberta Hunter" is an excellent example of how musical
biographies can succeed at evoking a life, letting the subject — in this case
the great blues singer Alberta Hunter — come alive through narrative and song.

The danger in this kind of biography is that it may
become a static recollection of the entertainer’s friends and the places he or
she performed. Writer/director Marion Caffey avoids
this pitfall, creating a script with plenty of action, exploring Hunter’s
personal strengths, particularly her close relationship with her mother.

"Cookin’ at the
Cookery" begins in Memphis, Tenn., in the early 20th century, where the young Alberta dreams of singing for the president of the United States, then shifts to 1978, when the
owner of the New York jazz joint The Cookery
asks an 83-year old Alberta
to sing at his club. The rest of the play is an imaginative tour through the
years between.

» The elements

Caffey cleverly uses only two
actresses in the roles of the younger and older Alberta, but has them both appear in several
other roles. The result is a script that demands attention, but is not
difficult to understand.

Dale Jordan’s effective set places conductor/pianist
William Knowles directly onstage and his three bandmembers
(Tony Addison, Yusef Chisholm, David
Cole) on a platform behind the stage. Marilyn Wall’s costumes capture the
metamorphoses of Hunter’s life, moving from a simple cotton dress and work
shoes to Jazz Age glitz to the elegance of Hunter’s later life.

» The ensemble

Most of the characters in the play — Alberta’s employers, friends, lovers — are
played by Janice Lorraine, an actress/dancer with incredible range. In addition
to portraying the young Alberta, she plays Alberta in her prime years in Paris
and London. Her
dead-on impression of Louis Armstrong is alone worth the price of admission.

Ernestine Jackson has the stature and voice to carry
off the elder Alberta Hunter, who wrote some of the most famous — and
suggestive — blues songs ever written. Jackson’s
renditions of "Rough and Ready Man" and "I’ve Got a Mind to
Ramble" (both written by Hunter) are delightful.

» The finale

If you were fortunate enough to have seen Alberta
Hunter perform, you’ll appreciate this tribute to her. If you don’t know her
work well, "Cookin’ at the Cookery" would
be a perfect introduction to one of the great artists of the 20th century.

‘Cookin’ at the Cookery’

Written and
directed by Marion J. Caffey; musical arrangements by
Danny Holgate